Capture of Kony no longer a priority for US Special Operations

United States Special Operations Forces will no longer be hunting for the African warlord Joseph Kony. Kony, the head of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has seen his number of followers dwindle down to around 100 is no longer a priority to capture for US forces.

Kony was branded a “specially designated global terrorist” by the International Criminal Court, based out of Geneva, in 2005 for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Particularly heinous was his abduction and forcing into the sex-slave trade of thousands of children.

A spokesman for the U.S. Africa Command said that troops were being withdrawn because of the apparent weakening of Kony’s fighting force, which reportedly has dwindled to about 100 soldiers from a peak of 3,000.

The U.S. will “transition to broader-scope security and stability activities that continue the success of our African partners,” the military group maintained.

Prior to the announcement, Michale Omona, a key aide to Kony, surrendered to Ugandan forces. This proved the “degraded capacity” of the rebel group, said a Ugandan military spokesman. Omona was in charge of communications for Kony.

The LRA, which began in the 1980s, was internationally reviled for its cruelty towards civilians in Uganda, Congo, Central African Republic and what is now South Sudan. Some 20,000 children were reportedly abducted.”

With the United States’ withdrawal, the onus on stopping the remnants of Kony’s forces falls to the soldiers of the Ugandan Army. The troops assigned to hunting his forces down number around 1500.

A member of President Trump’s transition team reportedly said that Kony had never attacked US interests so the US shouldn’t care about him and that since the Ugandans no longer view him as a threat due to his force structure dwindling, that the United States should no longer view him as one either.

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Christopher W

A foothold? Potentially valuable assets in the area? Seriously? In Uganda, CAR, Congo, and South Sudan!?
Only one of those countries matter, and it's Uganda. I'd venture to say that we, the US, have all the foothold we need in that area of East Africa. Kony doesn't have anything to do with it.

Christopher W

It's not inability, it's indifference.

Christopher W

If we wanted to find Kony, we could and would have done so years ago. I'm sure political issues and interference from the host nation(s) played a big part in it, especially with all of the corruption in Uganda and the rest of Africa, East Africa in particular (which is the region where Kony and his LRA run around the jungle having sex with goats and such). I'm sure every government employee and each of their family members wanted a handout and we simply didn't have the resources or willpower to let our most elite troops sit around some shithole in Africa greasing palms just to catch some asshat who is not, never has been, and will never be, a threat the United States.
I don't think it would be a stretch to say that we know where Kony is, and if necessity dictated, we could take him out anytime, anywhere - I used to work in SIGINT and I can say that with 90% certainty or higher. If I were asked by superiors that question, I would give the same answer.
You also have to look at the timeframe in which all of this really took off. Why would we take SOF troops off the battlefields of Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, the Philippines, Yemen, and so many other places, just to hunt down some guy who no one would have cared about had it not been for a viral video created by some young naive kids who know very little about the situation on the ground and have probably never left CONUS? Would it be a smart move to retask JSOC, or even "regular" ARSOF assets, to go after this guy? Hell no.
On the other hand, we have a good eye on him and if he were to align with Al Shabbab or the new AQ group being call "Al Qaeda in East Africa" or some other group along those lines, he'd be smoked in a heartbeat. If you hear any more about him in the future, something along the lines of "Kony killed", refer back to this thread and comment on my post; I'd be more than happy to break it down to you in more detail, preferably in a different forum.

tim e

Well said - hope they get the turd

Recon6

Perhaps..however, the inability to capture Kony would likely be the impetus for said dirt bags to realize the ineffectual efforts employed After committing such atrocities... doesn't appear much of a deterrent, imo... copy on garnering potential assets for the future tho....6